Siron stood at the center of the courtyard.
He did not attack.
He did not advance.
Yet his body was no longer stable.
Black markings shifted across his skin—slow, deliberate—crawling from his arms to his chest, from his chest up to his neck, as if something alive was reshaping him from within. It was not a sudden eruption, nor an uncontrolled surge.
It was a transformation.
Heavy.
Intentional.
Impossible to ignore.
A sharp crack echoed from his bones.
His shoulders broadened.
His stance changed—lower, heavier, anchored by something far darker than strength alone.
Sera clenched her fist.
"He's transforming."
Ryan narrowed his eyes.
"No. This is something else," he said quietly.
"A new power is being added to him."
Eileen raised her hand cautiously. Blue light flickered to life around her fingers.
"Be careful," she warned.
"This isn't weakness."
She swallowed.
"This… is evolution."
Siron lifted his head.
His face was no longer entirely his own. One eye had darkened beyond the other, and within his gaze lived a heavier awareness—cold, distant, unfamiliar.
"This body," he said, his voice deeper than before,
"is no longer limited."
Sera's voice cut through him.
"So this is the source of your confidence."
Ryan stepped forward.
"But this isn't a complete transformation."
Siron turned toward him slowly.
"Because it isn't finished yet."
Silence settled over the battlefield.
Then, with quiet certainty, Siron spoke again.
"This is my true form."
"The rest… will come to me later."
Sera frowned.
"How did you reach this?"
"And how did you obtain a second form at all?" Ryan added.
Siron rolled his shoulders calmly.
"Because I did not reach it alone."
The air tightened.
"This power," he continued,
"was added to me."
Sera's fist tightened.
"By whom?"
Siron lifted his gaze.
"My master."
Ryan answered instantly.
"And who is your master?"
"He is called Zuyfan," Siron said evenly.
"One of the Seven Sorcerers."
The name alone sent a strange weight into Eileen's chest.
Siron continued, unmoved.
"He opened this path for me."
"The rest… is none of your concern."
Sera's voice sharpened.
"Then you are nothing but a tool."
Siron's reply was cold.
"And what power in this world is not?"
He stood there…half transformed—his gaze moving between them, measuring, dissecting.
"What's strange about you," he said calmly,
"is that each of you holds power… yet none of you truly controls it."
His eyes stopped on Ryan.
"You."
"No matter how much you train—"
"No matter how far you push"
"You will never fully control your second transformation."
He stepped closer.
"Because power not born from you
will always weigh heavier than your will."
His voice lowered.
"That is why you are a copy."
"You take what falls from others."
"You never create power with your own hands."
Ryan clenched his fist, violet sparks trembling around him.
"I may be a copy," he said steadily,
"but I'm the only one who can endure what others cannot."
He lifted his head.
"I don't steal power."
"I choose it."
Then, colder:
"And you?"
"You never chose anything."
"You are only a vessel."
Siron smiled faintly.
"You endure… but you do not lead."
"And even now—your power drags you forward."
Then his gaze shifted to Eileen.
"You believe the light within you makes you strong."
He chuckled softly.
"No."
"The royal power inside you
is far greater than you."
"And you are still too weak to understand it."
The blue energy around Eileen trembled—but did not fade.
"I may not understand my power yet," she said firmly,
"but I do not use it to destroy others."
She met his gaze.
"You understand your power very well."
"And still… you chose to become its slave."
Siron laughed quietly.
"How noble."
Then he turned to Sera.
"And you."
"Hybrid."
"A power belonging to no single world."
His tone sharpened.
"That is why you will never fully control it."
Sera stepped forward.
"Maybe."
"But at least I don't hide behind my master's name."
"My power is hybrid," she said.
"But it is mine."
Siron's voice dropped.
"And being torn," he said slowly,
"always ends in breaking."
Then he delivered the sentence meant for all of them.
"You are three."
"And each of you is only half a power."